The Saturday 12

1. So what I didn't tell you last week is that Justin left for a hiking trip in Wyoming last Thursday. This blog is not private, and I'm not super careful to conceal my whereabouts, so I try not to broadcast that my husband is going to be gone over a long period of time. But as I'm writing this, he's on his way home. And in an abundance of caution, I'm not going to post it until tomorrow, so burglars and bad guys beware. My strapping man will be home by the time you read this! (P.S. If you really are a burglar or bad guy, can you please stop reading my blog? There's nothing for you here. Thanks.)

2. With that caveat, you'll understand when I say it's been a long week. Single parenting is not for the faint of heart. I consider myself pretty independent as a wife/mother. I'm not one of those women who relies heavily on her husband (except to bring home the bacon, duh - #golddigger). As a stay at home mom, I'm used to carrying most of the parenting load on a day to day basis. But I sure underestimated how much I appreciate those few hours a night that Justin is home to help with the kids. I missed it (and him, of course!) something fierce this week - especially at bedtime. Justin always puts Levi to bed, and it was rough doing it on my own every night. Levi has never been a great sleeper, and me putting him to bed threw a wrench in his routine that made things even worse.  

It doesn't help that summer is drawing to a close and we've all been together 24/7 since June. The kids were at each other's throats all week, and I slogged through a fair amount of anger and depression of my own despite my efforts to keep us busy, busy, busy! 

3. We spent Sunday afternoon at the pool with my family. That evening when the kids were fighting and driving me crazy, I pulled out one of my parenting tricks: The 3 Color Challenge. For some reason, my kids love this game. We each choose a free printable coloring page from the internet and print off 4 versions of it (one for each of us). Then we blindly choose 3 markers out of a box and have to color our picture using only those 3. When we're all done, we compare and decide whose picture is best. We usually listen to an audiobook while we color. Even Levi gets really into it. We did it many times this week when I was desperate to keep them occupied without TV. 

4. On Monday, Lucy went to a friend's house and I spent the afternoon cleaning out the dishwasher filter. (#livingthedream) Apparently you're supposed to do that more than once a year? It was so incredibly crusted in gunk it took me half an hour and a gallon of vinegar to clean it. I was astonished by how much hair I pulled out of its nooks and crannies. How does so much hair get in the dishwasher?? That night we met up with Libby and her kids at the park. 

5. On Tuesday, I voted in the primary election. I don't usually vote in primaries, but I've been feeling convicted lately that I can't complain about our elected officials unless I do my part. Now that I've done my part, I can complain all I want. 

That afternoon we had a pool party at Niki's. My sisters all came with their kids, we invited a friend from church who brought her 8 kids, plus I was watching Elsie. It was crazy and fun! 

6. On Wednesday, we went to a new-to-us-library to watch a magic show. Levi has been wanting to see a real live magician, so I knew he'd love it. 

It was very well done. The magician was hilarious, and Levi was duly impressed with his magical powers. When we left, it was downpouring. I had thought ahead to bring an umbrella, but foolishly only brought one. Levi started out carrying it over the girls' heads so nicely, but by the time I raised my camera, he had skipped ahead of them:

I snapped another picture just as they caught up to him that clearly displays their displeasure. 😂

Side-eyes and scowls

7. Thursday was the Summer AR party. Lena and Levi have been reading all summer to earn points toward this party. They enjoyed hot dogs and beach time with friends from school. 

That night, I pawned the kids off on my mom so I could go to church for my Moms' Group. We just started a new book study, but thanks to soccer, I haven't been able to go until this week. We're reading 7 Women: And the Secret of Their Greatness by Eric Metaxas. This week we talked about Susanna Wesley. She lived in England in the late 1600s and is famous for being mother to Charles and John Wesley. She's often referred to as the Mother of Methodism. Her story was both fascinating and devastating. She gave birth to 19 kids, but only 10 of them lived to adulthood. Her house burned down twice. Her husband couldn't hold down a job, was impulsive and selfish. One time they disagreed about a theological matter. She refused to acquiesce, so he left her and the kids - for a year! But she carried on in faith, loving and serving those around her, and championing the "methodist" lifestyle of strict adherence to a Bible reading and prayer schedule. Meanwhile, I can't handle my three kids and modern conveniences. For shame. 

8. Friday was another pool day with Presley and Harper. Levi got to swim with Jazzy (their dog), the girls had a blast together, and Kelly and I enjoyed catching up.

As you can see, Levi and the girls don't always get along. 😂 #littlebrotherlife

9. I originally thought that Justin would be home today (Saturday), but when I still hadn't heard from him by yesterday afternoon, I realized I must've gotten my dates wrong. When he's on the trail, he has no phone service, so we didn't communicate for days. But it's a 24 hour drive home, so I knew that once he was back to civilization, he'd call me and I'd have a good idea of when he'd be home. I didn't get that call until today at 1:00. We didn't talk long, but it sounds like they had a good trip, decent weather, and safety. They saw one bear before they even got to the trailhead, so that confirms my decision never to go on a trip like this. Also confirming my decision is the intense back pain I suffered through this week. I'm afraid that walking on the treadmill is making it worse, since the reason I'm walking on the stupid treadmill in the first place is to help alleviate my aches and pains. Maybe it has to get worse before it gets better? I only walked 3 days this week, partly because of our busy schedule, and partly because I felt like my back needed the break. Come on, body. Don't fail me yet. 

Justin was able to send me a couple pictures before they lost phone service.

10. I hardly bought any groceries this week since Justin was gone. And I certainly didn't make any meals. Instead, we spent the grocery budget on fast food. Tonight, we capped off our week of unhealthy eating with a trip to the Pump House. I warned the kids that this was the end of our frivolous spending and caloric intake. It's back to the grind next week. 

I have no idea why I felt the need to splay my arm across the table like that for the picture. 🤔

11. I've been watching Madam Secretary on Netflix for a few months, and finished the series on Monday. Not ready to start on a new series, I decided to watch a Netflix movie that I saw advertised on facebook: Purple Hearts. It was good, nothing amazing, but entertaining enough. The next day, I happened to see a book by the same name on Kindle Unlimited. Sure enough, it was the same story. So I read it that night and . . . I liked the movie better! 😮 I wonder if I'd feel differently if I had read the book first. But there was a major plot line in the book that was left out of the movie entirely and I liked it much better that way. I didn't enjoy the plot line in the book and didn't feel like it was missed in the movie. The endings were very different (I'm always surprised authors sign off on stuff like that), so I had to stay up 'til 2:30 a.m. to see how it would play out! I also re-read a couple of old favorites yesterday and today: Sons of Blackbird Mountain and Daughters of Northern Shores by Joanne Bischof. They're so good. Way better than Purple Hearts - movie or book version.

12. Well, I think that about sums it up! I've shared all my pictures already, so here are some memes to get you through the week:

Every time!